DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Busch will miss the Daytona 500 after injuring his right leg in a vicious hit Saturday into a concrete wall during the Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
Busch was injured with eight laps remaining when his car slammed head-on into an interior wall that did not have an energy-absorbing SAFER barrier.
Joie Chitwood, track president of Daytona, said the speedway failed in not having the soft walls and will start next week on having them installed “on every inch of our property.”
Track officials will install tire packs along that 850-foot linear square foot of wall that Busch hit in time for the Daytona 500 on Sunday. Chitwood said planning on covering the whole 2 1⁄2-mile facility would start Monday.
“This is not going to happen again. We're going to live up to our responsibility,” Chitwood said.
Joe Gibbs Racing said in a statement Saturday night that Busch suffered a compound fracture in the lower part of his right leg and a mid-foot fracture in his left foot and underwent surgery. JGR said Matt Crafton will drive Busch's car in Sunday's Daytona 500, but no drivers have been determined for future races. Busch is out indefinitely.
Busch climbed only halfway through his window and was pointing toward his right leg when rescue personnel arrived.
Busch was pulled from the car and laid on the ground, and his leg appeared to be stabilized in a splint before he was placed on a stretcher then into an ambulance.
As Busch was being treated in a hospital, older brother Kurt was in front of NASCAR's final appeals officer trying to get his indefinite suspension lifted. NASCAR upheld the ban Saturday after the first appeal.
Larson crashes on last lap
In an Xfinity Series season opener red-flagged twice, Kyle Larson stormed from the back of the 40-car field to battle for the checkered flag at Daytona International Speedway.
Larson, piloting the No. 42 Chevrolet for Fox Chapel's Chip Ganassi and co-owner Harry Scott, worked his way to the lead with 46 laps to go. Then, with a checkered flag coming into view in Turn 3, Larson spun out on the final lap to finish eighth.
Ryan Reed out-dueled his teammate Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski to give Roush Fenway Racing its first win at DIS in 76 starts in NASCAR's junior series. Reed, who has diabetes, was pushed to the finish line by Buescher.
“Keselowski was left out on an island, and we got an awesome run,” said Reed, who gave Ford its first Xfinity Series win at Daytona since 2004.
The race had been accident free for 74 laps before Larson triggered a multi-car crash with 46 laps to go when he lifted the 18 Toyota of Daniel Suarez. The race was stopped for nearly 40 minutes, and Larson was running fifth on the Lap 106 restart.
As Larson jockeyed for position with 11 laps left, the race was red flagged again. This time, Kyle Busch was the victim of a 12-car crash. Busch's 54 Toyota slammed into the infield wall at about 90 mph. He suffered minor injuries, leaving is status for Sunday's Daytona 500 uncertain.
Also, the accident took out defending race and series champion Chase Elliott. There were only 12 drivers left on the lead lap when the race restarted with five laps to go on the 2½ mile tri-oval.
Smith savors Cup car chance
In 2008, Regan Smith was on the short end of a controversial finish at Talladega Superspeedway. He appeared to pass the front-runners below the out-of-bounds line before taking the checkered flag – a violation often overlooked by NASCAR officials.
Tony Stewart was awarded the win while Smith vehemently vented of getting a raw deal.
Now, with Kurt Busch suspended indefinitely, Stewart offered Smith a deal he couldn't refuse. Smith, who excels at restrictor-plate racetracks, will pilot the No. 41 Chevrolet of Stewart-Haas Racing on Sunday in the Daytona 500.
“Things happened pretty late (Friday) night,” Smith said. “We had a plan coming into this, and I knew this scenario could happen.
“It's kind of convenient that I can get a few laps in the car at least before Sunday and get acclimated and see where the switches are and see where the buttons are. I've got to focus on the Xfinity car and making sure we get off to a good start to the season over there.”
Last year, Smith won the then-Nationwide Series season-opener and finished second in the summer race at Daytona. He was running with the lead pack for much of Saturday's Xfinity Series race but was knocked out with 27 laps to go after his No. 7 Chevrolet tumbled down the front straight away during a multicar crash.
Smith's only seat time in the 41 was during Saturday's Happy Hour — the final practice session for the Daytona 500.
“They have changed the (Sprint Cup) car a little bit over the years, and obviously this rules package is a little bit different than what I had in the majority of my experience in,” Smith said. “But for a speedway, the fortunate thing is the drafting is similar from the Xfinity cars to the Cup cars, so that's not a big adjustment.
“The biggest difference is I got an opportunity to hop in a car that's more than capable of winning the Daytona 500. So, I want to make the most of that opportunity.”
Smith and crew chief Tony Gibson said they aren't sure if SHR will keep Smith in the 41 for next weekend's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, pending the outcome of Busch's final appeal.
“The goal is to go prove to people that I need to be doing that on a full time basis for the right reason,” Smith said. “I have nothing to lose in this race. If it ruffles a few feathers, oh well, that is how it goes.”
Hall of Fame nominees
NASCAR announced the 20 nominees for the NASCAR Hall of Fame's Class of 2016. Among them are three-time NASCAR premier series championship crew chief Ray Evernham, 1970 NASCAR premier series championship crew chief Harry Hyde, 1992 NASCAR premier series champion Alan Kulwicki, Mark Martin and owner Rick Hendrick whose drivers have won 10 Sprint Cup titles.
